Pollinating insects are in decline, but there are plenty of flowering plants to help them. Increasing flowering plants in our gardens can also improve fruit and vegetables: with more pollinating insects around, harvests can be bigger and better.

The campanula provides some groundcover and will help prevent erosion of bare soil. Ground cover can also help to reduce soil surface moisture evaporation and suppress weed growth.

Until the plants have filled out, an organic mulch, preferably homemade compost, can help to improve soil moisture retention and weed suppression. Mulches should be spread when the soil is already moist to help trap some of that moisture before it dries out in summer.

1 - Buddleja davidii 'Nanho Purple'

2 - Stachyurus praecox

3 - Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna'

4 - Euphorbia x martinii

5 - Campanula carpatica

2 - Stachyurus praecox is a deciduous shrub with stunning strings of pale yellow, bell-shaped flowers in winter and early spring.

3 - Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ is a herbaceous perennial with spikes of deep violet-purple flowers rising above narrow, rough grey-green foliage throughout the summer.

4 - Euphorbia x martini has evergreen grey-green leaves and open sprays of yellow-green flowers, sometimes with a purple eye, from mid-spring into summer.

5 - Campanula carpatica is a low-growing herbaceous plant, with green leaves and bright, sky-blue, bell-shaped flowers through the summer.